Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

Wow on the birthday - 50 or 60?

rofl - give tikay an inch....

btw on nature films have you watched The Hunt

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06phlm5/the-hunt-2-in-the-grip-of-the-seasons-arctic

Amazing film of a polar bear climbing up cliff faces to eat birds eggs

I think there is a compliment there in that both of you probably think you have overshot...

Ate at the Boat House at the Cameron a House hotel a couple of years ago.  We were in a lodge on the other side.  There was a seaplane came and parked next door whilst we were there.

Yep, that seaplane is still there, or was 3 years ago.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Wow on the birthday - 50 or 60?

rofl - give tikay an inch....

btw on nature films have you watched The Hunt

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06phlm5/the-hunt-2-in-the-grip-of-the-seasons-arctic

Amazing film of a polar bear climbing up cliff faces to eat birds eggs

Not yet, no.

Funny how "word of mouth" works.

Doobs told me about the Loch Lomond show, I watched it - twice, back to back - then excitedly rung Tom at 9am the next morning before he was out of bed. He then told me about "The Hunt", & sent me these 2 links....


http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0342dms/the-hunt-1-the-hardest-challenge


http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06phlm5/the-hunt-2-in-the-grip-of-the-seasons-arctic


The quality of these nature docs on TV is just stunning. Love them all.

"Life of Birds" is being repeated this week on Eden. I'd forgotten quite how spectacular they are. It showed a Tawny Frogmouth, which camouflages itself as tree bark. Extraordinary.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

so how was Hispaniola?

get to see any of it outside the resort?

Back to this question.

No, I never got to see anything outside the actual Resort, other than on the Airport Transfer each way. (Around 45 minutes drive through semi-urban Dominican Republic).

Firstly, I had no "free days" except Sunday, during which I was indisposed.

To get around, a vehicle is needed - in fact, even to leave the Resort, it would be an hours walk to exit the property, it is huge. 

The Suites were lovely, I was 100 yards from the beach. There was a river in the resort, & we saw Herons fishing, & for the highlight of my trip, 3 turtles swimming along merrily. Been my best year ever for wildlife, as Gill & I saw all sorts in Arizona & SOCAL, including dolphins & seals.

The Resort "Main Block" is a bit like a shopping mall, or Fremont Street, Las Vegas. 9 or 10 eateries, same number of bars, & everything paid for - in terms of food & drink, it's simply impossible to spend a penny there. 16 of us had a "Group Dinner" & never paid a penny through the till, though of course the room rates reflect that. I never spent a cent all week, except on two PLO sessions in the Casino, more on which later. The first session went wonderfully, if you get my drift.

Each room had a fully stocked bar, including full bottles of spirits. All free.

Quite a place, all in all. It would not be my choice for a holiday, but it was certainly jolly nice if you like that sort of thing.

[booder]

Doobs told me about the Loch Lomond show, I watched it - twice, back to back - then excitedly rung Tom at 9am the next morning before he was out of bed. He then told me about "The Hunt", & sent me these 2 links....

9AM ?  Lazy bugger.

Is Mrs Red away ?

[tikay]

The Air France flights were a perfect nightmare.

Going out they lost my luggage. No big deal, but it stressed me to bits, it cost Sky Poker a lot of money to send me there, & I could not do my job properly. 

Coming back was, arguably, worse.

It's an 8 hour flight, which is bearable, I can handle that, plus the flight from Paris to Heathrow, including 2 hours transfer time.

What the ticket never told us though was that it was Punta Cana to Paris via Santa Domingo. And Santa Domingo is in the opposite direction. Only 20 minutes the wrong way, so no big deal you may surmise. Wrong. 

Arrived at Punta Cana airport 3 hours before flight time, on the transfer coach. All good. Do all the usual airport queuing - Check In, Security, final departure lounge, then board the plane. Sit there for an hour. OK.

Plane takes off after sitting on the stand for an hour, & exactly 19 minutes later, this bloody great Boeing 777 lands in Santa Dominga.

I sat there, reading my book, & it seemed like almost everyone was disembarking. Like, getting off. Seemed a bit odd to me, but hey ho.

Then the Stewardess says "time to get off Sir".

I say that I'm flying onwards, to Paris, so I'm fine sat here, tyvm.

She says "oh no, you have to disembark, we shall be re-boarding in 3 hours time".

What?

Proper palaver, that.

So after a 20 minute leg, we had to kill 3 hours in Santa Dominga Airport.

What a strange state of affairs.

[tikay]

Doobs told me about the Loch Lomond show, I watched it - twice, back to back - then excitedly rung Tom at 9am the next morning before he was out of bed. He then told me about "The Hunt", & sent me these 2 links....

9AM ?  Lazy bugger.

Is Mrs Red away ?

I got the impression he was hiding from her. He told me she never stops rattling on.

[tikay]

Before I move on from Punta Cana, and as I like to discuss my poker on this Diary at least twice per year, I played some PLO cash in Punta Cana.

I had not planned to play any poker, as I'm saving my pennies for Vegas next year, but I happened to have some $$$'s on me (the valid currency in the Resort), & as I made my way back to my room after finishing the Live Update at 2am one morning, I thought I'd wander into the Casino & see if anything was going off. The Casino is at the opposite end of the Resort Main Building to the Tournament, which was held in the Convention Centre, & was on my lengthy walk back to my room.

They had a white board displaying the games on offer, & my eye was immediately drawn to $1-$3 PLO.

Really? Oh my.

"Any seats available?" I ask the man.

"Immediate seating Sir, $100 minimum $500 maximum sit down".

Yes please......   

[tikay]

The table was perfect - interesting people, people who talked & smiled, & a genuine "fun" game. Just the job.

I was sandwiched between a guy who was there to promote the Seminole (sp?) Hollywood Poker Open, & a sort of mini Thomas Kremser, who travelled the world running Poker Festivals. I insta recognized him from the 2005 EPT in Copenhagen - he was the TD on that occasion, as Thomas Kremser was unavailable for some reason.  Decent Live Tourney player, too, with over a milly in winnings.

We got chatting, as you do, & I asked what he did these days. "I'm the CEO (or similar, I forget) of Sharkscope".

Now ain't that a thing. I sort of hold a strange view about Sharkscope, & possibly an unreasonable one. But the way I see it, they steal data off the internet, without the permission or goodwill of the sites or the players, collate it, & sell it. Nice work if you can get it.

Now was not the time or place to enter into that debate though, we were both "off-duty". Let's just play some poker.   

It was a perfect table, everyone smiling & chatting, & taking their beats like grown ups. Just one exception, gum chewing non-smiling hoody man, who, in 4 hours, found himself unable to utter a single sentence that was not about poker. He was very good though, & helpfully put us right when we made bad plays & calls. 

And we sat there for 3 hours. I never played well, or badly, just nice & relaxed. It was one of those sessions where I could do no wrong, set after set, boat after boat, & got paid every time. 

I ran a bluff very first hand, got caught, & it turned out to be the best $150 I'd ever spent at a PLO table, as nobody believed me after that, & I always had it. First impressions, eh?

My $500 was soon $1,500. Happy to go to bed $1,000 up - that's nearly the airfare to Vegas next year - but on a fun table, it does not feel right to hit & run, so I sat there until the game broke, & eventually finished with $1,200, for a $700 profit.

Lovely job. Same time, same place tomorrow, guys? Yup, booked.

[tikay]

I could barely wait to play the next day.

Soon as I'd finished work - 2am - I near sprinted down the corridor to the Casino, & timed it just right, bagging the last seat. Good seat, too - seat 6 - where I could see the board properly. (The eyes are going a bit).

Very first hand, I find good aces, double suited. It's been straddled & called around, & I can make it $340.

POT.

2 callers, fair enough. We are all sitting with $500, so this will be a $1,500 pot in due course.

     

Well unless they have the 8, I'm in good shape here, as the paired 8 kills their 2 pair options.

First to speak can't get his money in quick enough, next to act folds. 

Back to me. Well if he happens to have the 8, too bad. In we go.

It's a "turn them over" game, & he did not have the 8, but he did have a real beaut.....

 

Yikes. Plenty of outs to dodge then.

The turn was an offsuit deuce.

One card to come, please hold. I know, instinctively, without even thinking, what cards I need to dodge. I'm not stupid, I do understand the game.

And he missed the lot. Yay. It double paired, finishing with another Ten.

Oh, wait - he has 3 tens now.

Never mind, can't complain. £500 of my $700 profit gone first hand, but it cant be helped, I did nothing wrong. Looks a good table again, too.

"Chips please".   

[tikay]

I pull up another $500.

Very next hand, I double up in a standard spot.

This is fun.

Next, I get this. Not A1, but deffo worth taking a flop.

 

Flop?

 

Oh my, how good does that feel? Pretty damn good.

We are 3 way, first to speak bets out. Standard c-bet stuff I guess. I'm next to act.

Now I know we should not give free cards in PLO, but I have Miss Loose Goose behind me, & Matey Boy leading into me. I have a short dwell, & eventually decide to give them a bit more rope.

Miss Loose Goose now pots it. Eh? She must have the 6, I guess. Matey boy flats. I can pot this now I suppose, but greed gets the better of me, & I just peel.  

The turn is a K. Don't actually love it, but he'd need to be pretty lucky to have turned a better boat with Kings. He pots it.......

I do actually wonder if I have made a complete balls up of this, & ponder folding. But I can't.

POT.

Amazingly, Miss Loose Goose shoves, & so does Matey Boy. WTF?

Anyway, you know what's coming, & I call, not quite knowing whether to laugh or cry.

The pot is $3,000. Wowzer.

Matey Boy tables K-K-x-x, for the turned bigger boat, & Miss Loose Goose has the seemingly pretty, but actually useless, 6-7-8-9.

I'm devastated at my stupidity, why give that free card on the flop? And Miss Loose Goose would have come along anyway, with 6-6-6, & that lovely but oh so dead straight draw.

River?

6.

That'll be quads then.

Everyone is oohing & arring, & doing that thing they all do now on action hands, taking photos with their phone things.  

And so I make the wise, but rather belated decision that that's enough for tonight, "night all, great game" & toddle off to have a private sulk.    

That was my last poker action of the trip, I was so cross with myself.

Back home on Tuesday, & got back in the groove straight away in my little PLO8 DYM's next door. Won £36, which is a decent night in those things, winning 62% of 30 games played. Go to bed happy with £36 profit, & decide not to think about that $3,000 pot that got away. I'm the greatest.  

Strange how our tiny minds work.  

[tikay]

Thanks to Doobs for reminding me, but at 8pm tonight, on Channel 5, there is Episode 2 of that Loch Lomond, A year in Nature" jobbie.

[Rod Paradise]

Just watched the first couple of episodes on Sky+. Beautiful filming although I felt trolled a lot of the time. He took ages to say that the show was from Loch Lomond and the Trossachs Park - I was effing & blinding - You don't get them at Loch Lomond!! Also the segment with the Red Kites and lambing tilted me, I knew a Kite wouldn't take a lamb - so couldn't see why he was leading the audience that way.

I always find it a shame seeing red deer out on the moorland, they're naturally a woodland species but have learned to struggle through in an unnatural habitat for them. That's why they're smaller in the UK than in Europe.

Some great filming with the Dippers, I remember Geo taking some great pics of them with his grandkids.

Love watching film with Pine Martens too - I've never seen a wild one, one for the bucket list.

[tikay]

Just watched the first couple of episodes on Sky+. Beautiful filming although I felt trolled a lot of the time. He took ages to say that the show was from Loch Lomond and the Trossachs Park - I was effing & blinding - You don't get them at Loch Lomond!! Also the segment with the Red Kites and lambing tilted me, I knew a Kite wouldn't take a lamb - so couldn't see why he was leading the audience that way.

I always find it a shame seeing red deer out on the moorland, they're naturally a woodland species but have learned to struggle through in an unnatural habitat for them. That's why they're smaller in the UK than in Europe.

Some great filming with the Dippers, I remember Geo taking some great pics of them with his grandkids.

Love watching film with Pine Martens too - I've never seen a wild one, one for the bucket list.

Glad you watched it, & for those less knowledgeable, Trossachs or not made no odds really.

Two questions for you;

Why do Dippers do that "dip dip" thing every few seconds?

Did you see the Mother Deer attack the friendly baby deer? What was that about, why so vicious?

I enjoyed the Hen Harrier part, too, especially that orphan, who stole the food from his step mum.

I loathe the idea that those Ospreys all have to be given some daft name, but much enjoyed watching them build up to their first flight.

Excellent TV, to my mind. 

Episode 3 is next Tuesday.

[TightEnd]

chinese ship arriving into liverpool, delivering cranes for the port expansion there

[tikay]

That's a great photograph.

Amazing that it's presumably cheaper to make it in China, build a special ship to carry it & sail it halfway round the world, than make it in GB.